Duxford Airfield (the band) Pt. 07

"I'm alright now, honey. This beautiful lady has helped me put everything back into its true perspective and I'm all done feeling sorry for myself now" Andrea said to me.

"Andrea, you weren't feeling sorry for yourself, everyone has fears sometimes," I exclaimed.

Andrea made no reply to this, she just quickly stood on her toes and kissed me.

"I'm going to ride in the back seat with Andrea, Tim," Annie said as she opened the rear door and climbed into the truck.

Andrea followed behind her and closed the door.

"Andy, let's go! Helen and Lita are waiting on us right now" Annie said, as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Roger that," Andy said, rolling his eyes at me, as he walked around the front of the Ford and toward the driver's seat.

"Don't, Roger that, me, - we need to go, there's no time to lose!" Annie said excitedly.

In a charming act of defiance, Andy now began singing a few bars of the song Goodbye Ruby Tuesday "...There's no time to lose, I heard her say, catch your dreams before they slip away..."

"Nooo, don't start that shit with me again now, Andy Andrew!" Annie protested, rolling her own eyes.

Opening the driver's door, Andy leaned back into the rear of the cab and said "C'mere, you little shit."

Annie quickly leaned forward and kissed her husband. "Now, can we go?" she asked impatiently, rolling her eyes again.

Andrea and I both laughed at the good-natured interchange between Andy and Annie. Andy and his wife reminded Andrea and me of ourselves.

I climbed up into the passenger's seat and shut the passenger's door and I buckled my own seatbelt.

...Our morning's journey now began in earnest. The ladies talked to each other in the rear seat while Andy and I carried on our own conversation in the front of the cab. Andy and I talked about semi-trucks and co-workers that we had both known over the years. Our conversation was intermixed with the delightful laughter of the ladies as they chatted with each other like a couple of gabby school girls. The sound of this laughter brought true joy to my heart and I suddenly realized that I no longer had the feeling of dread and despair hanging over me.

Andrea was going to be alright now and the comradeship of my old friend Andy seemed to confirm Ricky's analogy, from our phone conversation the previous day, that I simply need to be around another guy that was just like me, for a few hours. Andy and I had known each other for over thirty years now and we'd also been co-workers at one time. Andy and I spoke the same language, we both spoke "Truck" and we spoke it fluently.

We were comrades-in-arms, and we'd always watched each others back.

"...You must really like this big-rig Ford, Andy, is this a new one?" I asked; as I finished the last of my McDonald's coffee.

"IIt'stwo years old, Tim, and we do like it - expensive son-of-a-gun though, man, pick-up trucks cost a lot of money now" Andy sighed.

"Yes, they're expensive I nodded in agreement.

"Annie and I are hobby-truckers now so we'll probably trade-up to another new one, next year, just to stay current. It's all write-off for us, anyway" Andy explained, shrugging his shoulder.

"Sounds like you're both living the dream, brother" I said.

"We are, Tim, and we're so grateful" Andy replied.

...Andy and I lapst into a brief silence as I looked out the truck's passenger window.

Andrea and I always enjoyed road trips, and it was a very refreshing change for me to just be a passenger and observe all of the scenery passing by us now. Sharing the journey with our two friends, enroute to a carnival, making it even better.

-My phone pinged with a text message from Helen Lunsford.

"We talked with Andrea a few minutes ago, she OK? Let us know when you guys arrive and we'll meet you under the Ferris-wheel." the text read.

"She's OK, see you in about thirty-five minutes" I replied back. I sent a smiley face with the text.

"They're going to meet us under the Farris-wheel, you guys," I announced to everyone in the truck.

"OK, sounds good, honey. You want the rest of my coffee?" Andrea asked, handing me her paper cup.

"Love you," I said, taking the half full coffee.

"I love you too" she answered.

...It was exactly eleven AM when Andy drove us into the carnival's parking lot and nosed the big Ford into a vacant space and switched off the truck's engine. Looking through the Ford's windshield now, people could be seen riding the Farris-wheel and dozens of other rides, accompanied by the tin-panny music that was always present at every State fairground. Seeing the rides in motion and hearing the carnival music always made me want to grab Andrea's hand and run toward the entry gate, like a young kid again.

Andrea was texting on her phone now.

"Helen and Lita are at the Farris-wheel now, let's join them and find some hotdogs" Andrea suggested as she put her phone back into her purse and stepped down from the Ford.

"Good idea, Andrea" I said, taking her hand.

Reaching the entryway gate, I quickly paid for everyone's admission and then followed Andy and Annie toward the Farris-wheel, hand-in-hand with Andrea. The smell of hotdogs was almost over powering now.

Andrea's phone pinged with another text message from Helen "Look up."

After a brief search upward, Andrea quickly took out her camera and began filming Helen and Lita as they descended toward us in one of the Farris-wheel's basket seats. The ladies smiled and waved to us as they began ascending upward again. Carnivals and Farris-wheels always seemed ageless in my opinion, people of all ages loved them.

Once Helen and Lita had stepped off the Farris-wheel, all four of the ladies held each other in a group hug for a few minutes. Their hushed conversation was intense and consisted of many head nods and shoulder pats, so common among a group of closely knit women.

"I never get tired of watching her interact with others" Andy now said in admiration of his wife.

"Me too, Andy" I nodded, watching Andrea.

...For the next four hours Andy and I interacted with the ladies, with all of us reveling in the carnival atmosphere like young children. We ate hotdogs, rode on rides, and shot video of each other. Andy and I also openly flirted with our wives as if we were still in high school. Toward the beginning of the evening, all of us stopped briefly at the farmer's market, across the street, and made a few purchases of locally farm-grown food. This experience reminded me strongly of my mother - a lifelong and passionate gardener, herself.

...It was just after eight PM when Andy and Annie dropped off Andrea and me at the hotel. Helen and Lita were close behind us in the rental car, and they soon parked within the hotel's parking lot and then walked over to say goodbye to Andy and Annie.

All six of us stood briefly together and exchanged hugs and promises to stay in touch. Phone numbers had been exchanged and lifelong friendships had been made today, it had been a wonderful day of comradeship and everyone was elated.

After Andy and his wife had driven away, all three of the ladies and I walked into the hotel's lobby and toward our rooms. Andrea and I exchanged hugs with Helen and Lita and said goodnight, with a promise of coffee together in the morning.

"What a truly marvelous day!" Andrea exclaimed smiling, as we locked the hotel room's door behind us and began undressing.

"Yes, I'm so glad you like Andy and his wife!" I replied.

"What an adorable couple!" Andrea nodded.

"I told them that they were welcome at the ranch anytime," I said.

"I told them the same thing, too, honey - and also Lita" Andrea replied.

"We'll throw another party soon and invite Hans, Buddy, Indio, and the whole lot of them," I said, yawning.

"I'd like that, husband," she said.

"Feeling better?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," she said, leaning over and kissing me as I sat on the edge of the bed.

"Want to take a bubble bath?" I asked.

"Not unless you've got your heart set on it" Andrea answered.

"Let's turn out the lights then and board the dreamland express, wife," I said.

A minute later, as Andrea sided up next to me in bed I asked "I wonder if Stewart Hanes and Mary Lane ever talked? now that Belle of Autumn is out to the public."

"I'll ask him, the next time we talk, Tim. I was wondering that same thing, myself" Andrea answered.

...Through a strange twist of fate, Andrea and I had discovered, quite unintentionally, that Mildred Mayfield - Belle of Autumn's starring female, was the biological mother of our personal friend, Mary Lane. We still weren't quite certain if Mary Lane knew that her own mother had once been a famous movie star, during the late nineteen-forties and early fifties, but we strongly suspected she did. Mary Lane was a very private type of person and Andrea and I had never felt comfortable, just asking her outright, about her mother.

...Mildred Mayfield's actual name had once been Mindy Vaughn...

"...What time does Lita leave for Phoenix tomorrow?" I suddenly asked my wife, changing subjects.

Andrea didn't answer me, she was already asleep.

"Goodnight, Andrea Millhouse," I said quietly, pulling her closer to me.

Andrea's sudden descent into sleep told me that she had been relieved of her earlier stress and worry. My wife was now on the mend and the five hours which we had spent with our friends at the carnival had done more good for her than anything else in the world could have.

I strongly suspected that, come Monday morning, Andrea would be chomping at the bit for me to allow her to lead us in the up-and-coming meeting with Earl Billingsly. I would very likely allow this, provided that I felt it wouldn't be a burden for her.

My insistence that she did not go to the meeting had simply been a stop-gap measure to allow her time and space to decompress. If Andrea didn't want to go to the meeting on Monday, that was OK too. I was ready to meet with the executives myself and throw in the towel; and just walk away from Prominent House.

...I now again, thought of Prominent House and all of its vain grandeur. The initial cost of building that house would have undoubtedly far exceeded every cent it had taken to build the entire subdivision of Stony Brook, where Ricky and I had grown up. - A contractor probably could have built ten Stony Brook subdivisions for the price of Prominent House. Yet, I wouldn't trade my experience of growing up in Stony Brook subdivision for that of Prominent House. Not on any day of the week, would I trade.

Not a chance in hell would I trade...

Stony Brook had been a close-knit community back then and I don't ever remember locking our doors during the daytime. No one had owned a burglar alarm in the old days - hell, the whole neighborhood had been the burglar alarm then. Everyone in the neighborhood hadn't always liked each other but a person still watched out for their neighbor, because by watching out for your neighbor, you were watching out for the entire neighborhood.

...There had been a lot of World War II and Korean War Veterans living there in the old days, I recalled.

Harold Gimbal had helped liberate France, he had an artificial leg to prove it. Harold had always been over at our house helping Mom with gardening tips, I suddenly remembered.

That guy could grow anything, he had the most amazing garden and front yard of anyone in the whole neighborhood. After his wife had passed, it was my opinion that Harold had developed a huge crush on Mom, and in a way it had been rather charming to watch him interact with her...

After sharing his latest gardening tips with Mom, Harold Gimbal would always encourage all of us with "Come over now for some lemonade and take a look-see at my Tomatoes, reckon they'll be ready for picking in a day or two."

...I honestly didn't know if my mother had ever been attracted to Harold Gimbal or not but I do believe that his interest in her was flattering for Mom...

...I could see Harold Gimbal's face and hear his voice within my mind, as clearly now as if it had been last week.

Harold Gimbal had probably been gone from us for more than forty years now...

I suddenly realized just how fortunate Ricky and I had been to have known so many of the Veterans from The Finest Generation. Men like Harold Gimbal had always carried themselves with such a quiet calm and confidence. They had walked through this world with a dignity and Grace seldom seen today.

Even with the huge difference in age between us, Ricky and I had loved hanging out with Harold Gimbal. - He'd even hired us to help him put up a fence one summer and he'd bought us lunch every single day during that project too.

...I suddenly realized just how much I missed the gentlemen from that generation.

Maybe, being around such men, is what having a real dad would have felt like...

Yeah, maybe...

Sleep now began shadowing me and I threw my thoughts to the four winds and just let my mind drift.

...Presently, as I lay within the arms of Andrea and my mind slowly began to clear itself of all the adrenaline from loud carnival music and rollercoaster rides, I began to hear the big trucks entering and leaving the truckstop, across the street, again.

More and more, as I slipped into the multi-layers of sleep, I began to hear the drifting sounds of open exhaust stacks as the big trucks headed out into the night. There were the familiar sounds of their engines and gearboxes being shifted and creating a soothing ambiance for me and inviting peaceful sleep...

...Harold Gimbal had driven a nineteen sixty-three Rambler station wagon, that had been brown and white in color. He had bought the car, brand new, for his wife. I could still remember seeing it sitting in his driveway; as if it were yesterday. I could also see his wife's face and eyes within my mind but what I couldn't quite seem to recall was what his late wife's name had been.

...She'd been a pretty lady with a gregarious laugh and always talking about gardening or playing Bingo at the V.F.W. downtown...

...My mind continued to drift with random thoughts of the old neighborhood and the people that had once lived there. I again, thought of my mother mowing the lawn in her Tony-The-Tiger T-shirt, those many years ago.

...I suddenly wondered what it would have been like for a man to have gone out on a date with my mother?

This was something that I'd never really thought about before...

What would it have taken, to steal a kiss from my mother and get away with it? What would it have taken to steal a kiss from Mom and maybe even get kissed back?

Whatever the case, it would have taken a man with a lot of self-confidence to try and steal a kiss from my mother, but so worth it, if it succeeded in warming her heart.

...Had Harold Gimbal ever tried to kiss her?

- I knew that my mother and Harold Gimbal had often gone out on "outings" together; after his wife had passed, but I really wasn't sure if Mom and Harold had ever been romantic in any way or not...

...I honestly didn't believe that Harold Gimbal had ever gotten over the loss of his wife...

Andrea and I slept.

My wife and I were up at nine-AM the next morning and showered together. Peeking outside the window, as I dressed, I noticed that the wind was blowing strongly again, making any plans for a day outside, nil and void. Dust was now blowing everywhere.

Andrea and I locked our room and soon met Helen and Lita for coffee within the hotel's restaurant. After morning pleasantries were spoken, I decided to lay the cards on the table, knowing I could speak openly in front of Lita.

"Helen, Andrea, and I are going to walk away from Prominent House, tomorrow at the meeting. Whatever you decide to do is fine, and we'll support you, but we're done. Andrea and I are ready to go home now," I said, for openers.

"Tim, I understand and appreciate your feelings. Would you wait, on making a decision, until after we've all talked with Herb, this evening?"

"We've already made our decision but we'll listen to what he has to say, with an open mind" I answered, holding my ground.

"Fair enough, that's all I ask for. Tim, I'm ready to go home now too, but please try to understand my point of view on all this. I don't care about receiving any money for Prominent House but that mansion could hold some vital clues for my research on this book - I'm absolutely positive that it does.

I understand your position in wanting to simply walk away from ownership and sale of the place, but if we could just spend four or five days searching through the house, then it could provide some honest answers for me." Helen said, almost pleading with me.

"That would be fine, Helen. What we're mainly concerned with is being saddled with some kind of obligation to the damn place. Some slick lawyer, through legal double talk, could make us liable for the demolition costs, back taxes, - or who knows what else, and that's what we're concerned with" I explained.

"That's not going to happen, for several reasons, Tim. For starters, I have many friends in the press and the executives know that. If they did pull a cheap stunt on us, I could have every reporter and seasoned journalist, that I know, - Johnny-on-the-spot and breathing down their necks within hours. I could sling a lot of dirt if I had to and neither the Feds; nor the oil execs, want any of that. They want all of this to happen under the radar and away from the prying eyes of the press and I don't blame them.

I also realize that you've never met Herb, but I've known him for twenty-five years and trust him implicitly. - Tim, please hear him out with an open mind this evening." Helen said.

"Helen, I know this book is a big deal to you - I get it. We want to help you, any way we can, and I give you my word, that we'll listen to Herb with an open mind. Andrea and I are already planning to go back to that damn house again, with you, if we're granted permission to go back" I said as I reached across the table and squeezed Helen's hand.

"Thank you, Tim, you don't know how much this means to me," Helen said as she wiped her eyes.

"You're worth the extra effort, Helen Lunsford," My wife said bluntly, to which Helen nodded a thank you affirmative.

"...Have Diane and Kelly come up with anything new on Danny's past?" I asked Helen, offhandedly.

"- Zilch, there's absolutely nothing on Danny, prior to nineteen-sixty-eight, other than his birth certificate. No tax records, no mailing addresses, no phone records, no driver's licenses, - no nothing. Abe can't find anything either" Helen answered, slightly discouraged.

"Diane and Kelly are the best in the business, Helen, just give them a little more time," Andrea said.

Helen waved this off with her left hand and nodded her head without speaking any further on the subject, she was obviously discouraged to some degree and it showed.

...The four of us had a light breakfast with coffee as we shared small talk on a range of subjects including Duxford Airfield, the band. The dismal weather outside now seemed to create a cozy ambiance within the diner, encouraging conversation and a few story swaps. Helen told several stories from her days as an active news reporter with the L.A. Times, some of these stories were incredibly tragic while others were hilarious; and quite unbelievable - "I never would have believed it either, unless I'd seen it myself" Helen quoted several times.

Andrea and Lita also told a few of their own stories while I myself; chose to simply listen and soak up the ambiance from around the table.

I loved hearing other people's stories.

My little brother Ricky and I had grown up in the presence of a man known as Doctor Feldman, a master storyteller in his own right. Doc, a World War I Veteran, could have charmed the birds off the trees and I so wished that my wife could have met the man and listened to some of his comical stories. Ricky and I could, yet to this day, remember laughing so hard at some of Doc's stories that the sides of our stomachs had literally hurt. Doc could put a smile on the face of the most cynical person in any room.